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WHAT DO LITERATE AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW?

Since its creation in 1988, the Core Knowledge Sequence™ has served as a foundational document for coherent, cumulative, and content-specific curriculum by educators and families, as well as those developing state standards and instructional materials. The Sequence provides guidance regarding the knowledge and skills that students should learn at each grade in literature and language arts, science, world and American History, visual arts, music, and math.

Over that thirty-year period, the knowledge and skills included in the Sequence have remained remarkably stable, with only small adjustments made several times to reflect changes in standards and our general knowledge of the world. It was last revised ten years ago in 2010.

The Core Knowledge Foundation is pleased to announce that we are embarking on a review and update of the Sequence. Our process will include a review of current standards, findings from cognitive research, as well as input from subject matter experts and educators.

We want to invite you to share any suggestions that you may have for updating the Core Knowledge Sequence. What knowledge and/or skills should be added to the Sequence and what, if anything, should be deleted? We welcome your ideas and suggestions, both general and specific.

To participate, please complete this survey

We anticipate the release of the updated
Core Knowledge Sequence in 2021.

We will continue to offer the 2010 Core Knowledge Sequence for
free download and for purchase while supplies last.

A Special Note to Schools – Please feel free to share this communication with your parents and students.

With each passing day, we continue to hear from teachers and parents looking for resources and guidance to address students’ educational needs at home.  Although we offer many instructional materials for free download, many parents have asked if they can purchase print materials, or if there are other resources available. The answer to both questions is YES!

Recognizing that parents are often not formally trained teachers, we compiled materials lists, at each grade-level, which link to resources that we believe may be adapted for use at home.

What Materials Do We Recommend for Use at Home by Parents?

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  • Preschool resources include: Anthology of read-alouds and suggested activities, music compilation CD/mp3, social skills posters/songs, and activities that support language and literacy development.
  • Kindergarten resources include: Poetry anthology, art prints, music compilation CD/mp3, and history/geography student book collections or homeschool sets.
  • Grade 1 resources include: Poetry anthology, classic stories, art prints, music compilation CD, and history/geography student book collections or homeschool sets.
  • Grade 2 resources include: Poetry anthology, classic stories, art prints, music compilation CD, and history/geography student book collections or homeschool sets.
  • Grade 3 resources include: Poetry anthology, classic stories, art prints, music compilation CD/mp3, as well as history/geography and science student book collections or homeschool sets.
  • Grade 4 resources include: Poetry anthology, classic stories, art prints, music compilation CD/mp3, as well as history/geography and science student book collections or homeschool sets.
  • Grade 5 resources include: Poetry anthology, classic stories, classic stories, art prints, music compilation CD/mp3, as well as history/geography and science student book collections or homeschool sets.
  •  Grades 6–8 resources include: Literature anthology, music compilation CDs, and history/geography student book collections or homeschool sets.

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Please contact us with any questions. Even with the challenges the current pandemic has placed on us all, we are committed to the Core Knowledge community, and will continue to respond to your individual questions as quickly as possible.

Wishing you and your family the very best,

The Core Knowledge Foundation Staff

At the Core Knowledge Foundation, we know it can be difficult to sort through the many lists of possible resources to use with students at home—and to figure out which ones will truly advance learning during this unusual time.

A Special Note to Schools – Please feel free to share this communication with your parents and students.

To help educators and families, we have been exploring top-rated sites and programs that are high quality, easy to use at home, and totally free. This is along with our own Prek–Grade 5 Language Arts program (CKLA), K–Grade 6 History and Geography Program (CKHG), and our Grade 3–5 Science program (CKSci), which are also available for FREE download. In addition, we opened access to our American history and geography ebooks for grades 3–5, which feature read-alouds in English and Spanish, for FREE for the remainder of the school year.

Our publishing partner Amplify has also created a website to house their many resources that they are proving free of charge. On this new website, you’ll have quick and easy access to quality academic resources—from self-guided science videos to early reading instruction to guidelines for starting a virtual book club. They’ll also update the site every week, so please don’t forget to check back. These resources will remain available to you until July 1.

We have also found additional resources from Quill and Audible for free that may be useful as well.

The Core Knowledge Foundation has also been working to crowdsource CKLA Read Alouds Videos for grades Preschool–grade 3. We have been able to source about half of the units for these grades.  If you are interested in assisting us with these efforts, please fill out the volunteer form.